Healthcare Solutions:
Healthcare Organizations Shift to Thermal Transfer Printing
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Thermal transfer printing saves time, reduces integration and maintenance costs and improves productivity.
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Healthcare organizations are increasingly implementing automatic data capture (ADC) systems to increase productivity and provide better control of their operations. These systems rely primarily on bar codes for capturing accurate and real-time information that is being printed more and more by thermal transfer label printers. Healthcare organizations that already have ADC systems are replacing their older dot matrix and line printers with thermal transfer printers. As a result, they are able to print bar codes, text and graphics on more durable labels that offer solutions to many healthcare applications. Using bar codes reduces costs through the elimination of manual data entry that was previously required. In addition, more information can be captured with bar codes, especially through the use of two-dimensional bar code symbologies such as a PDF417.
Automatic data systems are used in healthcare organizations for product or patient identification, inventory control, tracking work in process, asset tracking and even more. Hospitals are printing on-demand text and bar coded labels for wristbands for patient identification and tracking; medical and computer equipment for asset tracking; medical supplies for product inventory control; plastic or glass specimens for product identification and tracking work in process; x-rays, histology slides, and medical records; and shipping labels on cartons.
In today's economical environment, healthcare organizations are short on time and resources for integrating an automatic data capture system. They are also limited in office and lab space for equipment. And they are always looking to reduce costs.
The IntelliBar on-demand thermal transfer bar code label printer provides many benefits and advantages to healthcare organizations. Because the IntelliBar uses only industry standard printer command languages, integration and maintenance are easy and cost effective. A lower total ownership cost savings is realized because it eliminates disrupting or giving up their existing software application or operating system; eliminates the need for any programming for the integration, and provides complete flexibility for connecting virtually to any computer system. In addition, the IntelliBar is easy to use, maintain and service.
Printing on a thermal transfer printer such as the IntelliBar offers solutions for many healthcare applications. Thermal transfer printing is an excellent solution for archival applications where printed labels must be durable to last for many years or under severe environments. Many hospital and pharmaceutical labs are printing on synthetic labels on the IntelliBar in applications where labels must withstand harsh environments such as exposure to chemicals and extreme ranges of hot and cold temperatures; for instance, labeled vials, test tubes or bottles immersed in chemicals or stored in hot ovens or cold freezers.
Thermal transfer printing also expands the choice of label media to a wide variety of label sizes, adhesives and types from paper to synthetic to tag stock. The IntelliBar enables hospitals to print on label sizes with widths as small as .75" to 4.25" up to 8.65" by 99" long. One to thousands of rolled or stacked labels and tag stock can be printed quickly and on demand on the IntelliBar without label waste, thus eliminating the need for sheet fed labels.
Thermal transfer printing creates an image by melting ink from a thermal transfer film ribbon and transferring it to a receiving material. Heating elements inside the print head selectively turn on and off in a pattern, thereby forming the printed image (alpha-numeric text, bar codes and graphics) printing at 300 x 300 dots per inch. It is this print quality that produces extremely dense, high-quality dark print for printing scannable bar codes, text and graphics.
Using thermal transfer printing technology not only saves healthcare orgnizations time, but also reduces integration and maintenance costs and improves the productivity and efficiency.
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